Monday, November 12, 2012

Downtown Flushing's pop-up shanty businesses

Take a look at the following photos and ask yourself if it looks like legitimate business is being conducted here.
Does the City actually issue permits to businesses being run out of plywood shanties?
Is it ok to dump your wares on the sidewalk and create obstructions?
Perhaps too busy of a location for this to be safe.
Is this a vending shed or a scaffold?

88 comments:

It's Peter Koo-Koo Land. You know that NYC Councilmember whose physical appearance is that of an unmade bed. It's KooKooKaChoo's purview to be the watchdog for any transgression to the aesthetics of the local municipality.

Where is the Flushing BID?Where is Community Board #7?Where is Councilman Peter Koo?Where is Assembly Member Grace Meng?Where is Senator Toby Ann Stavisky?Where is Congressman Gary Ackerman?Where is the 109th PCT?Where is the FDNY?Where is the Dept. of Consumer Affairs?Where is the IRS?

Maybe each of them is hiding out in one of those (legal or illegal?) red shacks!

Grace Meng's vision of America. Flushing has a booming economy, pay everything in cash , do not pay any taxes and recieve aid from the City, State and Federal Gov. Have family member arrested for bribary, get elected to Congress ,PRICELESS.

Please, this can't be for real. It's photo shop pictures or something.In a million years I would never think to see something like this.Well maybe a few years now that Flushing has turned into a cesspool.Where are the local elected politicians ?

Isn't the very first thing to check is to see if they have the proper vendor permits to operate something like these shacks? Let's hear from the Dept of Consumer Affairs! How about the news channels do some investigating into these operations?

That is where the Q13 and Q28 buses turn onto 39th Ave. for their last stop.

And it's already a dangerous intersection: you can see the crosswalk in photo #3, but there's no stop sign on 39th Ave. Cars don't stop without the stop sign, and (some) pedestrians assume it's safe to cross because they see a painted crosswalk.

Not to worry. I'm pretty sure that the Queens community papers, after reading about it here on Queens Crap, will be sending their investigative reporter/fotog teams to get to the bottom of this. Look for hard-hitting editorials this week concerning this disgrace from:

Schenkler of the TribuneWeidler of the ChronicleListon of Flushing TimesSchnepps of the Courier

Not to worry. I'm pretty sure that the Queens community papers, after reading about it here on Queens Crap, will be sending their investigative reporter/fotog teams to get to the bottom of this. Look for hard-hitting editorials this week concerning this disgrace from:

Schenkler of the TribuneWeidler of the ChronicleListon of Flushing TimesSchnepps of the Courier

One minor correction, George. Liston is only the editor, not the owner, like all of the other losers that you listed. The owner used to be Steve Blank until he sold it to Rupert Murdoch a few years back.

Oh isn't this just MARVY! We can observe an "exotic" culture right here in our own country! Quick let's get a picture and pretend to be so culturally aware and tolerant for a few minutes. Then, let's intend to get on the 7 train to further our cultural experience, but really get on to the LIRR and make our escape back into Manhattan or to the North Shore, where we are safe. VIBRANT! DIVERSE! BOLLOCKS!

The city shouldn't allow any such businesses on public display, either they are well built or not. Soon this area will look like downtown Shanghai.Asians should Americanize themselves and realize that the moment they set foot on this continent, other rules apply and not theirs.

I was born and raised in Flushing but left in 1972 for college and never looked back. Even by then it was starting to become a shit-hole, now it is a cesspool. Sad, but I guess the RKO Keiths is a perfect metaphor for Flushing.

I was born and raised in Flushing but left in 1972 for college and never looked back. Even by then it was starting to become a shit-hole, now it is a cesspool. Sad, but I guess the RKO Keiths is a perfect metaphor for Flushing.---------------------------------As bad as it was back then, it was infinitely better than it is today. All of Queens was.

I have been living in North Flushing for twenty years and have seen the downhill path of my once great neighborhood. There is a underground economy that exist where no one pays taxes. I have seen it all and it's getting worse by the year. Very sad but true Flushing will become a giant Asian superpower with it's own set of laws.

Who owns these stalls? The vendors own them or rent? From whom? What architect drew up the design? They seem to be of cookie-cutter origin. Permits were applied and paid for? Their costs? Where did those monies wind up? Where are these permits filed? Who granted them?

"The most amazing part of this is that the 109th precinct is literally one block away — just on the other side of the municipal lot. It is the most useless precinct in the city."

The 109 is one of, if not the biggest coverage area of any precinct in the city. Staffing levels are low (thank our mayor for that). Jobs are backlogged and they don't always have time for petty quality of life issues like an illegal vendor (like the ones who are set up in the arcade next to McDonald's between Roosevelt and 38th)

If you are having an issue try calling community affairs. If that doesn't work go to a community council meeting and get involved. If you aren't involved you can't complain because you haven't tried.

"Petty quality of life issues"?WE ARE TALKING ABOUT DANGEROUS CONDITIONS HERE!Stop making excuses for the lazy 109th!Everybody knows that this is one of the most corrupt precincts in NYC!They change commanders like underwear...almost every 2 years.That's why it's known among law enforcers as "the promotion precinct".

The 109th is so understaffed that it can't send an officer ONE BLOCK to enforce the law and have these shacks removed? Puhhhleassse!

The 109th is useless. Make a complaint to their main # and hear the arrogant, dismissive officers on the other end.

And forget community affairs — we had an issue in our neighborhood and the meat-head officer finally came to check after a million phone calls, said it would be taken care of and he would be around to monitor. And what was the end result? — we never heard or saw from him again, nor was the issue resolved.

Flushing should just cecede and let Beijing govern. A strong armed government may be what the lawless dirty shanty town needs.

"Petty quality of life issues"?WE ARE TALKING ABOUT DANGEROUS CONDITIONS HERE!Stop making excuses for the lazy 109th!Everybody knows that this is one of the most corrupt precincts in NYC!They change commanders like underwear...almost every 2 years.That's why it's known among law enforcers as "the promotion precinct".----------------------------------And what do you want the 109 Precinct to do? Write summonses? Then you would be complaining that they are trying to meet their "quota". You want them to arrest the vendosr and confiscate their booths? Great, one arresting officer per vendor off the street vouchering all the property, taking up an entire tour, and getting a few hours overtme out of it. Even more cops out of service and not responding to radio jobs. Then what happens? The vendors are out of jail the next day latest, they get all their property back and are out selling that very day. But not before they pay a visit to their local ACLU and immigrant addvocacy group and drop a huge lawsuit on the arresting officer for "violating their civil rights". I think I would rather have the cops patrolling the neighborhood preventing violent crimes than dealing with this shit. You don't like it? That is what this city has become. Thank Bloomberg and his idiot liberal friends. They are the ones who created this monster, not the NYPD and not the 109 Precinct.

I take the q16 daily which turns on this corner. The corner is already a nightmare. But this is just another example of one of the many things ignored in flushing. Is there a bid? Is there anyone who actually gives a crap about flushing and the people who live there? It seems to me Bloomy only cared about buildings. Does anyone know where the bid office is? I would like to go meet/talk to the people in the office. I have lived here for 30 years and I can't believe how many rules are ignored.

Everybody knows that this is one of the most corrupt precincts in NYC!----------------------------------Your evidence? And please don't rehash an old story about their crime team. They really didn't get away with much. They were reported on by their fellow cops, investigated, arrested and sentenced to prison. The precinct was turned upside down, watched with magnifying glasses, and the CO and ICO were replaced. If you dump your garbage into the middle of the street does that make everyone else on your block slobs?

Whew!What a bunch guilty consciences there must be at the 109th PCT to have to resort to defending themselves so fiercely on Q.C.---------------------------------Oh yeah, God forbid someone actually has the audacity to speak up for cops. How many times are you going to post the same old anti-109 rant? And by the way what did the 109 collar you for that you have such a hard-on for them? Did they catch you in Kissena Park with your Roosevelt Ave tranny prostitute "girl"friend?

Putting up these businesses is total bullshit. On the news tonight they said that these people got legitimate permits - these people wouldn't know a legitimate permit for a business or home if they fell over it. Also, the news said that the board approved this. Of course because if all these people on the board are asian - they are going to vote its OK. I despise this neighborhood and if the 109 doesn't have a problem with this shit right across the street from them, something is definitely wrong with our police system. The shanty businesses should be demolished immediately.

The 'board' - if you're talking about CB7 - is not all Asian at all. While I agree that they generally have no backbone, they wouldn't have had anything to do with this, in terms of approvals or disapprovals.

This seems like some bullshit pilot project that all of the city agencies have been told to stick their heads in the ground for.

Seems like every other storefront on Union Street between Northern Blvd and the municipal lot has already closed. The (Korean-owned?) businesses have already deserted the area, since the AME construction in the parking lot has reduced the number of parking spaces for shoppers.

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